SpaceX to launch first-of-its kind tourism mission around Earth's poles
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Title: Here's what to expect during this flight
Content:
SpaceX is set to launch its latest mission for paying customers — taking a cryptocurrency billionaire and three guests on a dayslong trip that will orbit directly above Earth's North and South poles — a feat never attempted before.
Liftoff from Florida is expected during a 4.5-hour launch window that opens at 9:46 p.m. ET .
Mission controllers will be keeping a close eye on the weather.
'While we're hopeful we could fly on Monday, (and) it is possible — if we'll need to wait a couple days on the pad, we're prepared to do that,' said Kiko Dontchev, SpaceX's vice president of launch, during a virtual event on Friday.
When liftoff does occur, here's what to expect:
• SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will fly south from the company's launch facilities due East of Orlando — tracing a path that no human spaceflight mission has ever traveled.
• The Fram2 crew's capsule will head over Cuba and Panama as the rocket fires the spacecraft to orbit.
• A few minutes into flight, the first-stage booster of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket will have spent most of its fuel. It will then detach from the crew capsule as well as the rocket's second, or upper, stage.
• The Falcon 9 rocket booster will then head for landing on a seafaring barge.
• The upper part of the rocket, still attached to the Crew Dragon capsule, will then fire up its own engine and begin propelling the crew to orbital speeds — typically more than 17,500 miles per hour (28,000 kilometers per hour).
• After reaching orbit, the crew is expected to spend three to five days in space before splashing down off the coast of California.
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